


Drift

by sounds like gibberish (preciselypotter)



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Anxiety, Established Relationship, Fluff, Future Fic, Insecurity, M/M, Mild Sexual Content, Weddings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-28
Updated: 2018-06-09
Packaged: 2019-05-07 15:07:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14673674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/preciselypotter/pseuds/sounds%20like%20gibberish
Summary: Tsukishima Kei vs his own worst enemy (aka himself), featuring his older brother's wedding.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Surprise!? I've been working on this story for eighteen months. Eighteen. Months. I mean, on and off, and with various changes and edits along the way, but. Come on. Eighteen months. I figured that's long enough to be ridiculous, and any longer would cross into "you're never going to post this" territory.
> 
> This fic pretty much finished already (just editing at this point) so there will be no interference with Bitter Pills, my other WIP, in case anyone is worried lol.

It’s two in the morning when Hinata shakes him awake.

“What?” Kei mumbles into his pillow. He glances at his phone to check the time and feels no small irritation when he beholds the hour.

“I just realized,” Hinata says, sounding as awake as he’s ever been.

Kei waits for some grand revelation, but Hinata says:

“In one month, Tanaka is going to be your family.”

“I have an exam at eight o’clock tomorrow—today—and you wanted to tell me this now?” snaps Kei as best he can through his fogged consciousness. “You want to give me nightmares, do you?”

“I was just—”

“Go to sleep,” he commands.

Hinata is silent, and then finally he huffs a sigh. Kei closes his eyes and feels the weight of Hinata on his bed shift off. He listens to Hinata pad across the room and out his bedroom door.

“Damn it,” Kei says.

How is he supposed to fall asleep now?

*

The next morning Hinata has breakfast ready and waiting for him as an apology.

Being made by Hinata, the offering isn’t exactly a breakfast of champions, but Kei is touched nonetheless. He hates how easily Hinata charms him with the simple things like this.

“Passable,” he manages to say in a bored tone as he sits down in his chair.

Hinata lights up with a smile at too high a wattage for the early hour of the day.

“I’ve got practice later but I can stay a few minutes,” Hinata tells him.

That explains the two place settings at the table. It’s uncommon for the two of them to share meals with their wildly differing schedules. For the last two years they’ve done their best to at least make portions for both of them so that there’s a feeling of sharing.

Kei loves it when he has the rare chance to sit across from Hinata and eat. Even if the shorty has disgusting eating habits.

“What makes you think I want to look at your face?” he asks Hinata.

Hinata’s mouth puckers into a concerned pout. “Are you still mad?”

“I’m annoyed.”

“Don’t be.”

Kei narrows his eyes and points his chopsticks at Hinata. “You’ve still got no sense of appropriate timing, you know? What am I going to do if I fail this exam and have to make it up? I’ll miss the bachelor party, which I’m in charge of, so I can’t miss it.”

Hinata blanches. “Oh!”

“That’s right.”

“But you’ll be fine,” Hinata insists. “You’re really smart, so you’ll be fine.”

It’s a struggle to keep the flush from his cheeks at the compliment.

Five years. He’s known Hinata five years. How is he still so bad at taking praise from this one small person? Why does he still feel as flustered as a teenager?

“I’ll make you pay if I don’t pass.”

“Pay?”

“Yeah. Pay for a separate room at the hotel.”

Hinata looks beyond shocked. “Hey, you can’t do that!” he squeaks.

“Sure can.”

“But we’ve been looking forward to that hotel room for weeks and weeks now!”

Kei smirks. “It’ll be your fault, you know.”

Hinata pouts again. “So mean.”

They eat in silence that is soft and comfortable, despite Kei’s verbal jabs. The only anxiety he feels is over the impending exam.

Even though he started on his breakfast after Kei, Hinata finishes first. He rises from the table and clears as many of the dishes as he can, an eye on Kei’s place setting.

Kei knows Hinata is unnaturally obsessed with his eating habits, like a mother hen or a watchful dog. He finds it cute, if overbearing.

Hinata disappears into the kitchen and the sounds of running water drift out the open doorway.

When Hinata comes back, he walks behind Kei at the table and brushes a hand on Kei’s neck with absent familiarity.

“I’ve got to go,” he says. “Good luck with your exam.”

Kei reaches up before he can stop himself and takes hold of Hinata’s hand in his larger grasp.

“Thanks for breakfast.”

Hinata smiles, squeezes his hand, and heads out the door of their apartment.

Kei puts down his chopsticks and drops his head into his hands, breathing deeply.

*

Five years. He’s known Hinata for five years, and he’s been in love with Hinata for four of those.

It had started the day of the school assembly on the first day of their second year. A few unusually bold first year girls had gotten it into their heads that Kei was a catch and cornered him with pleas for getting a treat after school. To this day he still can’t remember what it was they’d wanted, specifically.

Just as Kei was about to snap at them, or run away, get far from the uncomfortable situation, Hinata was there. He slid smoothly between Kei and the gaggle of girls, smiling and saying Kei was busy after school, shooing them off with ease and gentleness.

After they’d gone, he turned to Kei and asked: “Are you okay?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” he’d shot back, a little in shock at his rescue.

“Because you don’t like it when people crowd you like that,” Hinata had said.

And it was true. Kei’s gotten better about it over the years, but he still doesn’t like getting crowded. It makes him fidgety and short of breath.

That was the moment he realized that, to Hinata, he had become a precious person. A person to be protected. In the past year they’d gone from apathy and distaste to this.

His chest had gone warm and soft.

A few weeks later they’d had their first practice match of the school year, against a school they hadn’t faced before in practice matches or tournaments. For Karasuno, it had been an away game.

Kei had found Hinata outside the bathroom door with two tall first years from the other school sneering down at him. Hinata was clearly intimidated by their bulk—why was he always so intimidated before a game, when he could decimate them in a match?—and was doing very little to defend himself.

Before he knew it Kei had loomed behind Hinata. He was taller than the two first years by enough centimeters to look down his nose at them and soon chased them off with his caustic nature.

Hinata had been grateful, and Kei had realized something terrifying.

To Kei, Hinata had become a precious person to protect as well. In fact, the most precious person.

From there it had been a landslide down with no way to climb back up and away from those feelings.

Maybe if it had remained unrequited Kei would have stood a chance of recovering. But with Hinata returning his feelings, pursuing them, pursuing _him_ …

Well, here they were, four years later.

*

As expected, Kei passes his exam.

He finds out the online results as he and Hinata purchase their tuxedos after the last fitting. The bill is staggering, of course, so it is with less wry humor than he intends that Kei says:

“Good thing you won’t have to pay for that separate room.”

He holds the phone out to Hinata, who beams.

“Good job!”

*

They arrive in Sendai four days before the wedding ceremony.

The hotel they’re staying at is decently priced, thanks to the wedding group discount Akiteru had the foresight to take out. Even so, six nights add up fast.

Of course Hinata and Kei are welcome to stay with their families, as they often do on break from university. The Hinata and Tsukishima families are well acquainted with each other by now, barely batting an eyelid when one of their sons spends the night at the others’ house on school vacation, even though their families don’t know the true nature of their relationship.

But this hotel room is for privacy. They’d ordered a separate futon for the room, but that was just for appearances. Kei has no plans to let either of them sleep on the floor.

Both Hinata and Kei have such hectic schedules lately that getting a minute alone that isn’t about wedding plans or what they’re going to eat has been all but impossible. This is a vacation.

The second they step inside the hotel room and shut the door, Hinata turns to Kei.

“Kiss me,” he demands, and Kei doesn’t waste time feigning disinterest.

He’s pushing Hinata to the queen sized bed, trailing kisses down the slender neck he’s so entranced by when Kei’s phone starts ringing.

Ignoring it seems like the best option with Hinata right in front of him. He lets it go silent.

And then his phone rings again, and Hinata’s phone starts vibrating in his discarded jacket pocket.

“I hate people,” Kei mutters as he pulls away.

Hinata offers up a breathy laugh in response.

Kei picks up his phone and sees it’s his brother calling. “What?” he snarls as he puts the phone to his ear.

“Are you at the hotel yet?”

“I am,” Kei says through gritted teeth. “I thought we weren’t meeting until tonight.”

“I’m in the lobby. Some of your old team mates want to get a game going.”

Kei turns to Hinata, about to tell Akiteru that volleyball is the last damn thing on his mind, when he sees Hinata’s face. He’s beaming. He’s a beacon of light.

And Kei’s heart sinks.

“Yeah, okay,” he says quietly. “I think we’ll be down soon.”

Hinata looks up at that, the light still in his eyes. “Kageyama wants to play volleyball!”

Kei hangs up without so much as a goodbye to his brother. “Yeah. I know.”

Utterly typical, really, of Kageyama to snatch Hinata up the second they’re in the same place. And just as typical for Hinata to get swept along.

Already Kei feels like he’s standing outside of a door that will never open for him.

*

“How have you been?”

Kei sighs into his drink. “Fine. Busy.”

Ennoshita slides onto the barstool next to him and waves at the bartender, who nods and puts up one finger before returning to the drink he’s mixing.

“Not playing with the rest of the young ones?”

“Don’t talk like you’re old,” says Kei.

“I feel it, sometimes,” says Ennoshita. He grins good-naturedly. “A torn ACL will do that to a person.”

Kei shifts in his seat. “Still can’t play?”

“Hm… not as much, but I do play from time to time. I just have to mind how many sets. But enough about me. Tell me, how’s school?”

“A lot of labs and tests right now,” Kei replies. He feels obligated to speak to Ennoshita, now, but that’s the same as always. Somehow his former captain can just smile and Kei starts spilling his guts. “I’ve barely had a moment to do wedding prep.”

“Good thing you’ve got Hinata to make your meals for you.”

“Good thing,” he echoes, and takes a drink.

It had not escaped Ennoshita’s keen skills of observation when the relationship between Kei and Hinata shifted in their second year. He hadn’t guessed it right away, but the pair of them weren’t exactly inconspicuous at first, what with all the blushing and fidgeting in each other’s presence.

Honestly, Kei couldn’t believe they _hadn’t_ been found out by more than just Ennoshita. It really said a lot about the Karasuno volleyball team’s one track mind.

Incredibly lucky, too, that the one person who did discover their secret was the sort of tight-lipped, kind person who offered nothing but support.

“Of course, he can’t cook for shit,” Kei adds.

Ennoshita barks out a laugh. “Oh yeah?”

“Mm hmm.”

“So,” says Ennoshita. “I know why I’m not playing with the rest of them, but you haven’t said why _you’re_ not playing.”

Damn. Kei thought he’d side-stepped that question.

“There were enough middle blockers already,” he replies.

“And?”

Kei sighs, his heaviest sigh yet, and puts his head down on the bar. “And I’m tired.”

An entirely misleading truth. Yes, he is physically and mentally drained, but that’s all current. This particular exhaustion eats at him in a different manner.

“Why don’t we go watch them, at least?”

“Definitely not. I’ll get even more tired just by watching.”

“A minute won’t hurt.”

Kei doesn’t know if Ennoshita is intentionally driving him into a corner, or if this is some unhappy accident. The last thing he wants to see is Hinata playing volleyball with or against Kageyama. The very last thing.

“Come on, I’ll pay for your drink.”

“Geh.”

“Can’t say no now, can you?”

He most certainly cannot, so Kei allows Ennoshita to cover the bill of one raw beer before tugging him off to the gym down the street.

*

The way Hinata glows when he talks about Kageyama, specifically playing as a team with Kageyama or being his rival, chafes at Kei’s confidence.

He’s never seen Hinata light up like that for him. Not once in four years.

It’s silly for him to think that Hinata would somehow choose Kageyama, especially after four years of a relationship, and intellectually he knows this. It’s still a gut reaction to feel hurt, betrayed, left behind, when Hinata seamlessly forms a pair with Kageyama.

Kageyama, at least, never shown interest in things like romance or sex. Not with any gender Kei has observed anyway. That small fact is a well-used staple in Kei’s collapsing calm.

Still…

He hates watching them together.

He and Ennoshita arrive at the end of a set. Sugawara is setting for one team and Kageyama for another, and of course, Hinata is on Kageyama’s side of the net. It looks like they lost by a narrow margin, because Tanaka and Nishinoya are howling with victory on the other side of the court.

“Look at that,” Tanaka crows. “I beat Japan!”

“Shut up,” Kageyama growls. He’s a little less rough around the edges than in high school, maybe a little humbler, so it doesn’t seem like he’ll explode any second.

 A pity. Kei would love to pester him a little for old times’ sake.

Just then, Akiteru—also on Sugawara’s side of the net—glances to the door and notices the new arrivals.

“Oh, you made it after all, Kei?” he says warmly.

All eyes turn to Kei and Ennoshita. Out of the corner of his eye Kei can see Hinata’s head whipping to attention but doesn’t look over because he can’t stomach the sight of that duo together with only one measly drink in his system.

Fortunately, he’s given a distraction in a matter of seconds because Tanaka pounces.

“Tsukishima!” Tanaka hollers. “Look at you! You’re all grown up!”

“You saw me six months ago.”

“Oho? But six months ago I wasn’t about to be your big brother. Go on, call me Tanaka nii-san. No! Call me aniki. Call me Ryu-nii.”

“Um. No thanks.”

The gym fills with laughter at the exchange.

“What?” Tanaka pulls away with a wicked gleam in his eye. “You’re saying you don’t want me, your beloved senpai, to become your beloved brother? Oy, Akiteru, what’s wrong with this punk?”

“Don’t mind him, he’s just like that,” Akiteru says, chuckling. “I’m sure he’s happy about it deep down.”

“No I’m not.”

“Tsukki always acts standoffish when he’s pleased with something,” Hinata pipes up.

The words make Kei’s ears burn. Is he so readable? More than that, he’s happy Hinata can read him so well, despite himself.

It’s not like he exactly minds Tanaka becoming his family. It’s just that between Tanaka, his older sister, and Hinata, Kei will be surrounded by a lot more forceful personalities than he’s used to in his family. One is his limit on a normal day, and Hinata has already reserved that spot.

“Let’s get another match going,” Kageyama says, probably eager to redeem himself.

For once, Kei is grateful to the bastard.

“Want to join in?” Tanaka asks Kei and Ennoshita, who has been watching this exchange in amused silence. “I think Daichi-san and Narita wouldn’t mind subbing out.”

Kei shakes his head. “I’m fine.”

Ennoshita takes up the offer, though, and Kei finds himself standing next to his other former captain in companionable silence.

*

“Did you have fun?” he asks Hinata on their walk back to the hotel.

They’ve paired off, other former Karasuno players loping ahead or straggling behind. Hinata has a towel wrapped around his neck and is still sweating despite the cool night air.

“Mm. It’s been a while since I’ve played with Kageyama, instead of against him.”

“Good for you.” Kei is so, so careful to keep his tone light and neutral. “I’ll order some dinner up to the room so you can rest.”

“Hah? I’m okay!”

“You travelled all day and played six sets tonight. Your body needs to relax.”

“But—” Hinata pulls at Kei’s sleeve, his eyes wide. “But the hotel! The vacation! The…” he lowers his voice. “The bed?”

Kei pats Hinata’s hair and immediately wishes he didn’t. The top of Hinata’s head is slick with sweat.

“Just sleep tonight, okay?” he says.

“Tsukki—”

“I don’t care what sort of crazy stamina you have, I need you to be functional tomorrow. Please.”

Hinata pouts but relents.

Kei tries his best not to think about the specific torture of sleeping in the same bed as Hinata, wanting to confirm their relationship through touch and unable to bring himself to reach over.

Because that’s the real reason he won’t do anything with Hinata. His stupid, paralyzing self-doubt won’t let him. And he hates himself for it.

*

Out of all things he’s ever done for his brother, Kei thinks that organizing a bachelor party is probably the most trying. Kei wouldn’t mind a quiet night in, and Akiteru wouldn’t mind it either, but he’s got to accommodate for all of his brother’s staid friends along with the rowdy Karasuno boys.

If it hadn’t been for Hinata’s helpful, though annoying, suggestions over the last couple of months, Kei wouldn’t have pulled it off. He’s not sure if he can even say it’s been pulled off yet.

Currently they are at a karaoke bar with Akiteru and Tanaka belting out a duet. Surprisingly, Tanaka has a decent voice even while half drunk. Akiteru is terrible, but he’s laughing so it’s alright.

At Hinata’s suggestion Kei had taken them to a public bar instead of a private room. There were too many people in the bachelor party who didn’t know each other and sticking them all in a box was probably asking for trouble—or at the very least, something awkward.

“Why is Kageyama here?” Yamaguchi asks from across the table.

They watch Hinata and Kageyama stand at the bar, laughing at the singing duo together.

Kei plonked himself down into a booth seat in a shadowy corner shortly after they arrived, assuring Hinata and his brother that he was only a little full from dinner. It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t the truth either. Yamaguchi had joined him after singing an old pop song with Hinata and two strangers.

“Nee-san likes him,” says Kei. “Akiteru doesn’t want to tell her that his Highness and I don’t get along. It might be rude not to invite him, anyway.”

“Yeah, but… I mean, I barely understand why Hinata is here.”

Kei pinches the bridge of his nose. “He’s like family.”

Yamaguchi looks a little wounded.

For some reason Kei hasn’t managed to drum up the courage to explain his relationship with Hinata to his best friend. Yamaguchi is (probably) under the impression that Hinata has taken over his spot as Kei’s important friend, try as Kei might to dissuade him.

“Akiteru likes him a lot. You know how easy it is to get along with Hinata.”

“Right.”

Kei flexes his fingers as Kageyama thumps Hinata on the back.

“Are you two still living together?”

“Yeah.”

“He must be an annoying roommate.”

“Last month he woke me up in the middle of the night to remind me Tanaka will be my brother.”

Yamaguchi chokes on his soda. “He did what?” he laughs.

Kei smiles slightly. “As if that wasn’t upsetting enough without having to think about it at two in the morning.”

“He still doesn’t think at all before he does anything, huh?”

And with that, he and Yamaguchi are off, reminiscing about high school, then middle school, catching up with each other’s lives in between stories and prompting old stories with each new one.

Kei speaks more with Yamaguchi than he does with anyone else. He finds it so easy to let go and be at peace with his best friend. There’s no pressure from inside or out and he knows that Yamaguchi won’t tease. He can be as sarcastic or silly as he wants with no repercussions.

At some point Kei hears Hinata’s off-key singing with an even more stilted voice accompanying him. He glances to the stage to see—predictably—Hinata and Kageyama delightedly stumbling their way through one of the newest songs on the radio.

This might be worse.

If they have more than just volleyball between them, that charged energy and the feeling like nothing and no one can intrude spilling out into daily life, how can Kei compete?

He doesn’t realize he’s frowning until Yamaguchi asks him what’s wrong.

“Nothing,” he says, and throws himself back into their conversation. He’s lost his excitement, try as he might to fake it, and he thinks Yamaguchi knows it.

Especially when, not five minutes later, the space next to Kei in the booth dips as someone sits next to him.

“Tsukki!” Hinata says. He’s definitely a little drunk. “Yamaguchi! How are you?”

“Good,” says Yamaguchi. He looks both amused by tipsy Hinata and at a loss for how to handle him. “How’s it going, there? Need some water?”

“Water? No, no, no,” Hinata says. Kei watches as he shakes his head like a bobble head doll. “Nope, I’m just fine. No water for me. I’ve already had a lot to drink!”

Kei snorts. “Yeah. I can tell.”

“Wha—how can you tell?”

Hinata looks so damn cute with his wide eyes and gaping mouth that Kei can’t help but smile softly down at him. He shakes his head and looks back to Yamaguchi.

“We might need some water for this guy after all,” he says.

“Nooooo,” Hinata insists. He tucks his head into the space between Kei’s arm and torso.

“Oy, stupid, what are you doing?” he asks.

Hinata only puts his hand on Kei’s thigh in response.

Kei stiffens as his heart rate begins to pick up and he glances at Yamaguchi, alarmed.

Yamaguchi either hasn’t picked up on the unusual physicality and was already getting up to get Hinata some water, or he’s got the best poker face Kei has ever seen. He slides out of the booth and waves at them before disappearing into the crowd at the bar.

“Hey,” Kei says.

Hinata buries his face in further.

“Heeey.”

He shoves at Hinata gently. Hinata’s hand creeps a little closer to Kei’s crotch.

“Oy, Hinata,” Kei says, and that gets Hinata to pop his face into view.

“Mm?”

“Are you seducing me right now?”

“Yes.”

Kei chuckles before he can stop himself. “Why?”

Hinata sits up ramrod straight so abruptly that Kei jumps a little. He stays very still as Hinata tucks his feet under himself and proceeds to straddle Kei, his hands gripping the polished wood behind Kei’s head on either side. His eyes are intense.

“You,” Hinata says.

“What about me?” Kei breathes.

“Sometimes,” says Hinata, “I think you forget how much I like you.”

Kei tries not to flinch.

How is it that Hinata can be so perceptive sometimes? It’s terrifying to have this person see into him so well. He is constantly exposed by those large eyes.

“Because, see, I like you the most,” Hinata goes on. He’s suddenly behaving much more like a drunk and much less like the forceful alter ego that appears in the middle of matches and in bed. “Because I live with you, right? And you’re the only person I’ll have sex with, you know? So of course I like you the most.”

“You’re so ridiculous,” Kei says. It comes out in a disgustingly tender tone and Hinata’s smile becomes predatory. “Is that all?”

Hinata leans in to whisper in his ear. “Kei,” he murmurs, which has an immediate effect on Kei’s lower half, “I won’t spend another night like last night.”

“Alright,” Kei agrees—though if Hinata can stay awake is another question entirely.

“Good.” Hinata pulls back and looks Kei in the eye. “I really love you.”

Maybe it’s the alcohol that Kei’s had, or he’s just been so impatient and unsure these last two days, or it might be that Hinata is honestly too much, but Kei doesn’t even look around the loud room filled with people before he places his hands on Hinata’s cheeks and pulls him in for a soft kiss.

“There,” Kei says when he releases Hinata. “Now go have fun.”

“Okay,” Hinata says with eyes half-closed. A few seconds later he climbs off Kei’s lap and wanders toward a group that includes Tanaka, Nishinoya, and Azumane.

Kei watches him go with a smile, the weight in his chest—a weight he hadn’t fully noticed—lightening with each of Hinata’s skipping steps. His eyes drift to the bar to seek out Yamaguchi…

And his heart stops, the smile sliding right off his face.

Kageyama is looking over at him.

For a second they stare at each other. Kageyama’s eyes are narrowed and filled with an anger that Kei can’t place, like trying to put a puzzle piece in the wrong spot. And then reality, which he supposes he was trying to put off, snaps into place.

Kageyama saw them.

Kageyama saw the entire thing, from Hinata’s cuddling to the kiss. There’s no other reason for him to look so pissed off.

Kei releases a shaky breath when Kageyama at last turns away, but he can’t hold back the sense that something awful is going to come of this.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a reminder that this fic has a ‘mild sexual content’ tag.

They stumble back to the hotel, Kei half-carrying Hinata most of the way. That’s just what happens when he tries to sling a much shorter person’s arm around his neck, after all. He made sure to leave ahead of Kageyama, practically dashing out the door when it came time for them to call it a night.

At least they have nothing important to do tomorrow—in a moment of wisdom, best man and maid of honor had decided to leave a gap day between the bachelor and bachelorette parties and the rehearsal dinner to allow for hangovers. Considering the bride, Kei had been wholly on board with that idea.

“Move your legs,” he says to Hinata.

“Huh?”

Hinata is currently doing his best impression of a boneless chicken as he flaps his arm uselessly about and lets Kei pull him along. It’s sort of funny, except Kei is exhausted.

“Your legs. Use them.”

“Tsukki,” Hinata says, very serious (except for the drunken slur), “I can’t actually feel my legs right now.”

“Oh, no you don’t.”

“What?”

“You want me to give you a piggy-back ride, don’t you?”

Hinata sort of crumples to the sidewalk, the arm he has around Kei’s neck slithering off. His face is one giant pout and Kei is so pathetically weak to it.

“Do not,” Hinata says, which is clearly a lie.

Kei covers his mouth to hide his smile. “I won’t do it.”

“I’ll just sleep here.”

“That kind of threat won’t work on me.”

“’S not a threat,” Hinata protests. “I’ll really sleep here. See? Ground is soft. Night-night.”

“I’ll leave you here.”

He turns around, intending to only walk a few paces away just to torture Hinata, but Hinata reaches out and grabs his jeans leg to stop him.

Kei looks down at the sidewalk Hinata is stretched out on. “Hm?”

“Why are you leaving me?” Hinata wails, overdramatic to the point of satire. “You love me, right? You wouldn’t leave me. Who else is going to sleep with you?”

“Oy, stupid, you’ve ruined your clothes,” Kei points out. “If _I_ carry you, my clothes will get ruined too.”

“Clothes are nothing compared to true love, Tsukki.”

Despite himself, Kei blushes hard at that.

“You’re so cheesy,” he tells Hinata.

“But you _love_ that about me!”

“You keep saying ‘love, love,’ like that’s going to change my mind.”

Hinata’s head flops onto the sidewalk and he smiles up at Kei. “I don’t have to change your mind,” he says. He’s quiet now, and Kei has to bend down to hear him. “I know you’re going to pick me up, carry me back to the hotel, and take care of me. Because you love me.”

Kei feels the blood rushing in his ears, listens to it pulse overtime.

“And then you’re going to stick your dick into my—”

“ _Enough_.”

He surrenders and picks Hinata up, just as predicted. He hoists Hinata onto his back in a fireman’s carry and grunts at the weight. Hinata isn’t exactly heavy, but he is an entire human body. Not the easiest thing to tote around.

“I’m just saying.”

“If you can talk this coherently, you can probably walk.”

“I…huh? What did you…?”

Kei snorts. “Oh, sure.”

They make it back to the hotel without any further dramatics. The person at the front desk gives them a look that is part-sympathy, part-judgment, and Kei does his best not to roll his eyes at her. He’s the only one that gets to judge Hinata.

The truth of the matter is, Hinata doesn’t go out drinking much. He’s too much of an athlete to wreck his body consistently. Despite that, his alcohol tolerance is pretty high so when he lets loose he goes hard until he crashes, because he never had to learn to pace himself. And Kei will complain about this in Hinata’s presence constantly, but Hinata never goes drinking without him.

Kei might groan and grumble about it but he doesn’t mind taking care of Hinata. He likes that he’s the only one Hinata really trusts when he gets out of control.

The room is dark when Kei lets them in.

He drops Hinata on the bed and grabs one of the water bottles on the bedside table, twisting the cap off easily and shoving it into Hinata’s limp hands.

“Drink,” he orders, and Hinata obeys.

Oh yes, this part isn’t bad either.

Kei rifles through his bag and pulls out the aspirin he had the foresight to bring along. He places it on the bedside table next to the other water bottle, and then he takes the half-drunk bottle from Hinata and puts it away.

He spends the next twenty minutes guiding the drunk and sleepy Hinata through a quick shower (far too clinical to admire Hinata’s nakedness) and a thorough brush of his teeth. He wraps Hinata in one of the hotel robes and tucks him into bed.

“What about the sex?” Hinata whines through a yawn.

“I’m not having sex with you right now,” says Kei. “You’ll just fall asleep halfway through. It’ll totally kill the mood.”

“But I _wanna_.”

He snorts. “Yeah, yeah. Come on, scoot over.”

Kei climbs into the bed beside Hinata and wraps his arms around those small shoulders.

“Mm.”

“Sleep,” Kei murmurs into his ear. “I’m right here.”

*

Kei wakes with Hinata’s back pressed up against his chest.

The shorty is sleeping deeply, breathing puffs of air in and out. He’s quiet and peaceful, a rare thing for Hinata, and it makes Kei’s heart clench tightly.

He wants to stay like this for a while, his eyes on the back of Hinata’s neck and his arms wrapped around Hinata’s middle, but…he’s damn hungry.

Kei extracts himself from Hinata with complete care. He checks the room and decides to grab a waste basket from the bathroom to put next to the bed, just in case. He also puts a note next to the water and aspirin (“ _downstairs for breakfast_ ”) before getting dressed and grabbing his wallet.

The hotel offers a free breakfast in the mornings, which was one of the pulls for Kei. He’s a university student. Saving money is important.

The breakfast is a buffet set up. Kei gets in line and helps himself to his favorites, both sweet and savory offerings on his plate when he sits down at a small two-person table by himself.

If Hinata were here, he would have insisted Kei put more on his plate. It’s nice to have a break from Hinata’s preoccupation with his eating habits. Kei knows the sentiment behind it is full of care and he likes that, but sometimes he prefers the peace and quiet.

A tray slams down across from him on the table.

Kei stares at the overfull plate with a spillover of two apples, a banana, and a carton of milk loaded onto the red tray. He blinks and looks up.

“Did you need something?”

Kageyama narrows his eyes. “I’m sitting here.”

“I didn’t invite you.”

“I don’t care.”

Kei sighs and continues eating.

He’ll just ignore the fuming setter. Tune him out. There’s absolutely nothing he wants to hear from this bastard anyway. Kageyama is never going to be his favorite person. There’s no point in—

“You should stay away from Hinata.”

Kei puts his fork down slowly. He wipes his mouth with his paper napkin.

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me.”

Kageyama’s eyes are filled with rage. He’s always been one to burn hot, while Kei keeps his temper on a mild setting.

All the same, his irritation is slowly but surely rising.

“Yes,” Kei replies. “I did.”

“I saw you,” Kageyama continues in an undertone, no less angry. “Last night.”

Kei had been expecting this, but not so soon, and not in such a public setting. The retorts he’d been composing in the back of his mind weren’t cut out for a hotel dining area.

“I don’t know what you think you saw but—”

“It’s just like you to take advantage of him like that.”

An ugly laugh rips from Kei’s throat. “Take _advantage_ of him?” he repeats in disbelief.

A vein pulses in Kageyama’s forehead. “What else would you call what you did?”

“I kis—” Kei cuts himself off and leans in toward Kageyama. “I _kissed_ him,” he hisses. “And you don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”

“A blind person could see how drunk he was!” Kageyama says. He gets right into Kei’s face. “Is that what you do? You just wait until he’s drunk and do things like that to him? God, what else have you done?”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Like hell I don’t.” A vein pulses in Kageyama’s forehead. Kei had always thought that sort of thing was just drawn in manga for exaggeration, but there it is, purple and angry. “Hinata lets people get away with things like that because he doesn’t know any better. How dare you?”

“You need to shut the hell up.”

Kageyama gets right in Kei’s face. “You don’t tell me what to do.”

Kei lets out a harsh little laugh. “You’re so stupid I’m surprised your brains haven’t dribbled out your ears.”

“Hah?”

“I just think it’s interesting,” says Kei, knowing he’s barreling forward full steam into a conversation he should not be having without Hinata’s approval, and especially not with Kageyama of all people. “Because, you know, Hinata has been my roommate for two years now, and somehow, your first thought was that I took advantage of him.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“You never asked him why he’s living with me? Never even thought about it?”

Kageyama frowns in clear confusion, which would be hilarious, except Kei’s blood is still pumping hot and running like lava through his veins, burning away his common sense.

“Obviously it’s because you’re going to the same university,” Kageyama says slowly, “but what does that—”

“And you never questioned us going to the same school? Really?”

“Did you—wait, did you _follow_ him there?”

Kei rolls his eyes. “No, you absolute idiot. Is your memory broken too? I was the one who chose our university first. Hinata followed _me._ Catching up yet?”

The vein in Kageyama’s forehead pulses, impossibly, harder, and darkens to a shade of purple Kei hadn’t known the human body could produce. The connection is obvious and yet Kageyama refuses to make it. At this point it’s almost sad. Almost.

Kei laughs derisively again. He can’t help it. “You’re embarrassing yourself at this point,” he says. “Now leave me alone. You’re putting me off my breakfast.”

Kageyama’s eyes narrow with renewed focus. “I’m not going to let you mess with Hinata anymore,” he says. “I’m taking him away from you.”

Until this point, Kei had been angry, and allowed himself to say things he knew he shouldn’t, but he hadn’t shown it on his face. Those last six words snap what little self-control he’d been holding onto. He bares his teeth at Kageyama like a wild animal.

“He’s mine,” snarls Kei. “If you touch him I will break every finger on your hands.”

“He’s not your possession!”

“You can’t _take_ him from me.”

“What is wrong with you?” Kageyama demands.

“You know what? You don’t know a damn thing so shut up and go away.”

He stares down Kageyama for a long moment until Kageyama’s gaze flickers down, and Kei knows he’s gotten his way this time.

Kageyama pushes his chair back and picks up his tray. “Whatever,” he mutters. “This isn’t over.”

“You’re damn right it’s not,” says Kei. He watches Kageyama retreat to the other side of the dining area, back stiff with anger, and feels his own spine stiffening in response.

The rest of Kei’s breakfast tastes like sand in his mouth.

*

When Kei lets himself back into the room, still fuming silently, he sees Hinata awake and sitting on the edge of the bed. He tucks his anger away with concentrated effort and reapplies the role of caretaker.

“Hey,” he says, shutting the door slowly behind him so that it closes with a soft _click_.

“Morning.”

“I just went down for breakfast.”

Hinata nods. “Mm. I saw your note. Thanks for the aspirin.”

“Sure. How are you feeling?”

”Okay. I felt a little queasy when I woke up, but I’m fine now.”

Kei takes a couple of steps into the room and then hesitates. “Are you hungry? I can go back downstairs and make you a plate. Anything you want?”

“Hm.”

Hinata drops his chin into his hand in a thoughtful gesture, but his eyes are gleaming.

“What?” Kei walks toward him and stops about an arms’ length away.

“If you’re taking requests, then…” Hinata reaches out and grabs the eyeloop of Kei’s jeans. “I’m in the mood for sausage.”

And in that moment Kei knows they’ll get nothing done for the rest of the morning.

He lets Hinata do as he likes, more than willing to watch Hinata’s lips wrap around his cock, definitely willing to tangle his fingers in Hinata’s hair as that hot mouth makes him come. He returns the favor on his knees before the bed while Hinata lies back and announces his pleasure in moans.

After a prolonged shower together, however, there is no way Kei can ignore the grumblings of Hinata’s stomach.

By this time the free breakfast is over so Kei drags Hinata out of the hotel and to the nearest Starbucks. He refuses to buy Hinata coffee that isn’t decaffeinated so Hinata gets a sandwich and some tea.

They spend the day wandering Sendai, a city that both of them are only vaguely familiar with. Neither Kei nor Hinata went to school in the city and didn’t have much reason to take the train in. Kei knows enough about the streets to keep them from getting lost, at least.

Breaking up the isolation of their day are phone calls. Kei irrationally suspects every single person calling him of trying to ruin his free time with Hinata, but it’s not their fault. There’s a wedding in two days, after all.

He’s not the wedding planner, though, so that one call from Tanaka’s mother is a headache.

The maid of honor giving him ten phone calls in two hours is also incredibly frustrating. No, he doesn’t know what Akiteru is doing at this moment. No, their bachelor party did not turn into “The Hangover.” No, he did not get them a stripper, has she _met_ Kei?

Hinata listens to these one-sided conversations with good humor and patience in spades.

Kei could use some of that.

He does his best to forget the morning’s events. Nothing before Hinata woke up matters.

It doesn’t matter what Kageyama thinks of their relationship. His declarations aren’t worth anything. Kageyama is an ineffectual fly buzzing about, that’s it.

Or so Kei tells himself over and over again.

At the end of the day, after a decent meal, neither Kei nor Hinata pretend they aren’t desperate to get back to the hotel. They all but run to the room and fall into bed, shedding clothes so quickly Kei wonders in hazy concern if they’ve ripped anything.

It’s too much effort to care about something like that, though, when Hinata is riding him to oblivion.

*

“Kei-chan!”

Kei winces and turns toward the approaching whirlwind.

“Hi, nee-san.”

Saeko opens her arms and wraps herself around Kei’s torso, which is the highest she can reach on him. For such a slim person, Tanaka Saeko is ridiculously strong—Kei has some trouble breathing as she squeezes him tight.

“Um, nee-san—”

“Look at you! You’re all grown up!”

“I can’t breathe.”

With a hearty cackle, Saeko releases him. Kei rubs his ribcage delicately.

Today is the rehearsal dinner, which means two things: the first is an influx of arriving guests, and the second is the actual rehearsal. Both are overwhelming.

Kei has received more hugs today from people he barely knows than he’s gotten from Hinata this year. Which is to say, quite a lot and far too many. The Tanaka family is loud and boisterous and fond of physical affection. Only a few of them are traditional Japanese people who keep their damn hands to themselves and don’t get into other people’s personal space.

And as best man to his older brother—a regular pushover—Kei has a lot of coordinating to do with the groomsmen and bridesmaids.

And, of course, the bride herself.

“You look nice,” Kei tells Saeko, who beams up at him.

“I do, don’t I,” she crows. “Wahaha! Bet you didn’t know your big sister could look this good, huh?”

Kei smiles politely back. He’s bad at dealing with Saeko. Not because he doesn’t like her—rather, he likes her a lot, and despite how exhausting her vibrant self can be Kei can’t bring himself to speak in his usual scornful tone when she teases him. It leaves him at a loss of vocabulary.

Sometimes, Kei thinks he’s not a very nice person.

“Is Aki-chan here yet?”

“Over there,” says Kei, and points. He’s long since gotten used to Saeko’s cutesy name for his brother.

“Ah! So we can get started with this, right?” Saeko says.

Kei follows Saeko as she marches up to his brother and loops their arms together. Akiteru blushes a little and Tanaka makes a horrid sound, no doubt embarrassed by his sister.

It sort of makes sense, Kei thinks. Both he and his older brother are more reserved people. If Kei fell in love with someone like Hinata Shoyo, it makes sense that his brother fell in love with someone like Tanaka Saeko.

Still, this is a bit much.

“Seriously, try to restain yourself!” Tanaka is saying.

“Time to get used to it, little brother,” she says, hugging Akiteru’s arm closer. “One day you’ll be just as annoying and you’ll be glad that I won’t tell you to cut it out, bet you anything.”

“He’s already annoying,” Kei says, which turns Tanaka’s attention from Saeko to Kei.

“You’ll be the most annoying,” he crows. “Your wedding is going to _suck._ ”

Kei doesn’t answer, just smiles politely and somehow manages to make Akiteru and Saeko laugh by his expression alone.

*

When the rehearsal is over, the group of bride, groom, bridesmaids, groomsmen, and family head down the corridors of the complex to the receiving room where some of the invited guests are already beginning to congregate.

Kei wishes he could skip this—he doesn’t have to give a best man speech until the wedding reception tomorrow—but he’s seated at the main table and his absence will definitely be noted if he slips away.

He doesn’t have to sit down right away, thankfully, so he looks around the room for that bright head of hair he’s been wanting to see for hours.

His heart stops.

There is Hinata, and there is Kageyama, and they’re standing in a corner having a hushed and what looks like a furious discussion. There are lots of fingers jabbing and arms waving and Kageyama’s permanent scowl has deepened.

Kei had put Kageyama out of his mind—by force, and with no small effort—since last night, when he and Hinata finally put their hotel bed to use.

Hinata still wants him, physically, sexually, there’s no doubt about it. Kei has known for a few years that Hinata’s sexual appetite is, at its mildest, voracious. The lack of sex in their day-to-day life hasn’t at all lessened their relationship, but it’s been missed. They communicate well during those moments.

Still, seeing Hinata with Kageyama like this is…

He hates this.

They’re so close, they understand each other physically. They have wordless communication that Kei can’t ever imitate with Hinata. His relationship with Hinata was filled with awkward starts and misunderstandings in the beginning, unlike Kageyama and Hinata. Sure, the idiots didn’t like each other at the outset, but they _got_ each other.

He wants to go over there. He can’t go over there.

He’s an outsider to this duo.

Kei grimaces and turns away from the sight, nearly running into Azumane.

“Sorry,” he says, and means it.

Azumane smiles warmly, benignly. “Don’t worry about it. Are you alright? You look a little pale.”

“It’s been a long day,” Kei replies. Not a lie.

“Well, you’re almost done with it. Just one more day to go.”

“Two more days,” Kei corrects him. “There’s the brunch after the wedding.”

Azumane rubs the back of his head. “I guess you’re right. I hadn’t thought about that. I have to work that day so I can’t go… Well, let me buy you a drink. What have you been up to lately?”

Kei lets himself be led to the bar. He explains to Azumane, in the most general and comprehensive of terms, how his recent lab work is going, how his biology major is challenging but ultimately satisfying, and the lecture courses he’s most interested in.

As he speaks, Azumane nods his head and asks questions. He’s obviously a little out of his depth, and Kei feels bad about that, since Azumane didn’t go to university, but he’s kind and curious.

It’s always been easy to open up to Azumane Asahi. Kei remembers being a first year in high school, a little bitter and self-deprecating, and revealing bits and pieces of his insecurities to Azumane in a way that he wouldn’t with anyone else. Not even Yamaguchi.

When Azumane had retired from the club and focused the last few months of his third year on studying for exams, Kei had been lonelier than he thought he would be.

So he’s happy to talk to Azumane whenever there’s an opportunity.

Caught up in conversation, the time to sit down for dinner approaches before Kei realizes it, and he reluctantly leaves Azumane to take his seat at the main table next to Akiteru.

For a moment Kei’s eyes search out Hinata. When he finds him a few tables away, Kei is surprised to see Hinata looking upset—angry, a little, and somewhat hurt. Their eyes meet immediately and Kei knows that feeling is directed at him.

He feels sick.

Did Kageyama manage to convince Hinata that Kei is just…that he’s…

This isn’t the time to think about this.

Kei wrenches his gaze away and looks to his brother.

He does his best to pay attention to the speeches his father and then Saeko’s father give, laughing quietly at all the correct points and applauding at the end like everyone else. What was said, he can’t recall. It’s all a blur in his mind.

*

Walking back to the hotel is torture, even though the hotel is only two blocks away.

Hinata is up ahead of him, talking earnestly with Nishinoya and not looking back at Kei at all. Kei pretends this doesn’t bother him.

At least Kageyama isn’t there. He’d left early, while Kei had been forced to stick around and speak to family friends he hadn’t bothered to meet in a long time. Hinata had stuck around, yes, but they hadn’t spoken once that evening.

Kei doesn’t even know what he’s going to say.

“ _I haven’t been taking advantage of you_ ” is a little awkward right out of the gate, but “ _You’re mine and I won’t let Kageyama take you away_ ” just comes off far too strong.

And Kei refuses to bring up the possibility of Kageyama as his replacement, because, well, what if that’s what Hinata wants? What if they break up and Hinata moves in with Kageyama and Kei is—

No.

He can’t think like that.

He’s the one who’s been with Hinata for four years. They’ve been together longer than some married couples—longer, by at least a year, than a certain soon-to-be-married couple Kei has spent the night celebrating.

“Want to come get a drink?” asks Sawamura. “We’re meeting up in the hotel bar.”

Kei should say no. It’s been a long day, and he’s got another one tomorrow that will be even worse. He should just go to bed and sleep.

But he thinks about being alone with Hinata in that room.

Why did he insist on getting a hotel room with Hinata? At the time it had been such a great idea, a true chance for the pair of them to be intimate in a way their schedules haven’t allowed. But now it’s a trap that he has to return to eventually.

Rash, desperate, Kei replies:

“Sure, that sounds good.”

Hinata has a key, he reasons with himself. There’s no need for them to break off from their former teammates together.

Kei lets Azumane wrap an arm around his shoulders and haul him away from Yamaguchi and Hinata, who are headed toward the elevator. He catches a glimpse of Hinata looking back at them, but it’s a flash and Kei can’t register his expression.

Relief, probably.

He can’t forget the way Hinata had looked at him earlier that night.


End file.
